2023 Chapters Year in Review

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We are very proud of the accomplishments our ACFE chapters made in 2023. Last year, we saw chapters offer more in-person events than in prior years. Chapters continue to find new members through partnerships with other local organizations, and they look to make changes internally by updating their website, board responsibilities and more. Chapters set records for the number of Fraud Week supporter sign-ups and for donations made during our annual Chapter Foundation Challenge.

Let’s look back at all we accomplished in 2023 and celebrate how the chapters have impacted the growth of the ACFE. Here are some highlights from the past year.

New Chapters
The ACFE welcomed four international chapters and one U.S.-based chapter in 2023. We now have 200 ACFE chapters worldwide. The new chapters are:

  • Dutch Caribbean Chapter #246

  • Democratic Republic of the Congo Chapter #247

  • Baltics Chapter #248

  • Greater Texas Panhandle Chapter #249

  • Portugal Chapter #250

Chapter Awards Winners
At the 34th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference, the New York Chapter and Southwest Ohio Chapter were recognized as Chapters of the Year. The South Florida Chapter was the first chapter recognized with the Chapter Community Service & Outreach Award. You are welcome to read each chapter’s nomination form to see their accomplishments.

Chapter Leaders Meeting
More than 200 chapter leaders attended the Chapter Leaders Meeting held in conjunction with the 34th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. The meeting took place over two days. The first day’s presentation was given by New York Chapter President Dora Gomez, CFE, and Middle Tennessee Chapter President Michael Booher, CFE. They covered all things event related. They discussed the challenges that all chapters experience when organizing in-person, virtual and hybrid events. They then discussed finding speakers, the role of fraudsters as speakers and more.

The second day’s presentation was given by Las Vegas Chapter President Joe Throneberry, CFE, and the Greater Boston Area Chapter President Mike McCall, CFE. The presentation began with a brief demonstration of how to access the resources available on the Chapter Leaders Administration site. Attendees were also given instructions on how chapter leaders can pull the list of local ACFE members in their area. Then, the speakers discussed strategies to recruit and retain members. They also led a discussion on board succession, chapter expectations and more.

Chapter Leaders Summit
The ACFE held the inaugural Chapter Leaders Summit on December 14-15, 2023, in Austin, Texas. At the event, chapter leaders met not only with other chapter leaders, but also with ACFE staff and leadership. The Summit began with opening remarks from ACFE President John Gill, J.D., CFE, and ACFE Chief Executive Officer John Warren, J.D., CFE. They highlighted a few of the ACFE’s organizational goals and challenges and how chapters can support these goals.

The Summit also prompted in-depth discussions on holding events, membership strategies and more. Attendees were introduced to several members of the ACFE staff who provided more information on how they support our chapters’ efforts. We look forward to offering this event later in 2024 and having even more attendees participate.

Scholarship Fundraising Challenge
ACFE chapters donated a record-breaking $139,105 to the ACFE Foundation in 2023. This beat last year’s record by more than $10,000. There were 37 chapters that participated. Seven chapters donated at least $10,000, and of those, four donated at least $15,000. Four chapters contributed between $5,000 and $6,000. Thank you to all the ACFE chapters that helped make the 2023 Scholarship Fundraising Challenge so successful and for continuing to support the ACFE Foundation.

Other Accomplishments

  • Nearly 1,800 organizations from 148 countries signed up to support International Fraud Awareness Week 2023, and 61 ACFE chapters participated. This was an increase from 47 chapter supporters in 2022. Each year, ACFE chapters find creative ways to promote Fraud Week to their members and the local community. This year, all chapters that supported Fraud Week were given a short welcome video presented by ACFE’s President John Gill that they could play to accompany their events during International Fraud Week.

  • The Alabama Area ACFE Chapter held its 16th Annual Training Seminar. It was a two-day event held virtually on August 18 & 25. The theme was Fraud Trends and Issues in Fraud Investigation. The conference was very well received.

  • The Edmonton Chapter launched fraud prevention awareness campaigns in March. They organized with local anti-fraud agencies such as the Canada Revenue Agency, Real Estate Council of Alberta, etc. The local Chief of Police spoke at each event, and all were open to the public, with mearly 200 attendees at each event.

  • The Central Indiana Chapter revamped its website. They also doubled the number of events offered from 2022, providing 30 CPE credits to chapter members. These efforts resulted in a more than 25% increase in membership from 2022.

  • The Jamaica Chapter held their 3rd Anti-Fraud Conference. It was a one-day event under the theme ACTION REQUIRED: Combating Fraud and Corruption Through Increased Vigilance and Innovation. The conference continues to increase in attendance since COVID restrictions were lifted.

  • The Central Ohio Chapter held their 22nd Annual Emerging Trends in Fraud Investigation Conference in conjunction with the Auditor of the State of Ohio and the Central Ohio IIA. More than 1,000 members from these organizations attended this event. This is the largest conference held by an ACFE chapter in the United States.

  • The Northern Colorado Area Chapter took on an intern from a local university who handles many of the administrative tasks required. So far, she has been a huge help to the board.

  • The New Jersey Chapter held a roundtable event with more than 100 attendees from local law enforcement agencies. It was a great event that generated a lot of interest from the agencies to get involved with the ACFE.

  • The Montreal Chapter held their 2023 Symposium in March. More than 100 attendees participated in their premier event.

  • The D.C. Metro Chapter had a very busy 2023. They held virtual trainings every month and a networking event for chapter members at a baseball game in June.

  • The ACFE released the 2023 Report on the Chapters highlighting the chapters’ activities from the previous year.

We would like to thank each and every one of you for supporting ACFE initiatives and volunteering your time to provide assistance to ACFE members. You provide an invaluable service to the anti-fraud community around the globe. We look forward to another great year and more accomplishments in 2024.